Psalm 42-43

You will note the similarities between these two Psalms.  Our handling them together is because of the similarities.  It is not because we hold to the idea of many that the Psalms were originally one, though that may in fact be the case.  So that we do not need to keep repeating ourselves, we will consider this as three stanzas and a common life situation.

These Psalms again give us a rich and accurate look into the depth of the human soul.  And we see as well the way in which the godly must deal with the strong messages of the soul.  The Psalmist is in a period of difficulty that is exacerbated by the taunting of the ungodly: “Where is your God?”  It is further deepened by the fact that the saint has been unable to make pilgrimage (42:4). 

One thing that is helpful for us is to note the depth of feeling.  The repeated verse at the end of each stanza calls attention to his being cast down or bowed down in his soul, his deep inner man.  He is disquieted, troubled about his situation.  God, to the Psalmists way of thinking, has not come quickly to help (42:9).  And at the same time, his enemies have continually (42:3) taunted, all day long (42:10).

We live in a world where feelings are of paramount importance.  We are frequently being asked to share our feelings (by a doctor or a Facebook friend).  We are regularly bombarded with ads and advice that will give us quick relief from our feelings and a steady flow of good feelings.  The assumption always is that feeling good is the best thing and whatever we can do to bring it about must likewise be good.

Feelings can be tricky to those who are not careful.  Feelings are a part of our make-up as those created in the image of God.  They send us a signal, an indication of something in the soul.  It may be a feeling of joy, or one of desperation as we see here.  But feelings do not tell us what we should do.  The plan of action must come from the mind; and the mind will give a plan dictated by the heart.  You will note that the Psalmist talks to his soul.  He tells the soul what it must do, whether it feels like it or not.  The soul must “hope in God.”  This is consistent throughout.  The soul is not allowed to demand some immediate action; rather the soul must wait on and for the Lord.

A good thing to note is that he has a complimentary feeling of longing for (panting) for God (v1-2).  In other words the Psalmist has some history with God and knows that the troublesome feelings need to be answered through his relationship with the Almighty.  Thus note in the three stanzas …

·         In 42:1-5 he desires God, thirsts for God, and longs to be in God’s presence at the house of God.  But he is not there and has not been for some time.

·         In 42:6-11 he commits for the time being to remember God wherever he is.  God is “my God” (v6), the “God of my life” (v8; and thus the One at work in his life through the difficult waterfalls and waves, v7), and “God my Rock” (v9, and thus the only One to whom he must come, v9-10).  He is solidly in God’s presence, even though he is not at the tabernacle.

·         In 43:1-5 he pleads with God to both settle his case (the affliction) and to lead him to His tabernacle (v1,3).  It is interesting that “tabernacle” is actually “dwelling places”.  It would appear that what he prays for is not simply to be led to the physical temple, THE dwelling place of God; he is praying God will lead him to a deeper face-to-face relationship where he is physically. 

Let us learn God’s desires for us in these songs.  Certainly let us learn the need for “soul talk.”  We need to sense what we feel.  But we must not be subject to the feelings.  Rather we must make the feelings subject to the will and heart of God.  This means that when we feel despondent, fearful, angry, confident, joyful, curious or whatever we feel we must tell ourselves how to respond.  To begin with we must insist that the soul “hope in God.”  Help will come through our relationship with Him, through His “light and truth”.  Thus our course of action will always be saturated with the “light and truth” of the word of God and a yieldedness to the Spirit of God to lead us in every step.